


A Quick Break to Think

by LolaMontez



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Dadlorian realizing things, Fluff, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28821444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LolaMontez/pseuds/LolaMontez
Summary: A quiet moment after the events of The Sin where Din thinks about just how deep he is into defending this child and how he feels about it.
Kudos: 13





	A Quick Break to Think

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a boatload of introspection and fluff because I just had too many feelings ^-^

Din stared up at the roof of his ship, idly contemplating the way it occasionally lit up as the lights around him blinked on and off. He was used to the silence of his own personal space but now it was broken by the occasional snufflings of a small, fifty-year-old child. The concept was still rattling around in his mind if he ever bothered to think about it. More often than not, he chose not to. After all, the small alien looked like a child and acted like one and so that was what he considered it. The child.

Apparently now his child. He did, after all, choose to attack a city of bounty hunters and rather loudly make his claim on this small, green thing. Somehow his mind wandered to the familiarity of the darkness of the tunnels full of Foundlings, of the Mandalorians together. The Armorer with her soothing voice and calm understanding of The Way and keen insight into him despite having never removed his helmet in her presence, nor hers in front of him, would most likely be a sight he’d see too often.

Still, despite the ache of losing something so familiar to him, he couldn’t really make himself regret it. A small squeak from behind him was the clear reminder as to why he couldn’t be all that bothered. Endless success in his career as a bounty hunter had never felt as fulfilling as it had when this small child had reached out for his hand. Distrust or acknowledgement of his ability to complete his job were all looks he’d known so familiarly but the way this small child looked up was so new, and so important to Din. Those large, dark eyes so full of blind trust looking up as though Din somehow held the answers to it all.

Din let his head lower from the ceiling and he glanced over at the quickly contrived crib he’d made for the kid. Giant green ears were the only thing visible over the bundle of blankets Din had padded the small seat with. Occasionally, the large appendages would twitch followed by the soft snore of a small child. And even though Foundlings weren’t too rare a sight in this galaxy, he’d rarely seen any so small, so young. Most of the children were as old as he’d been because ones young enough to still need to be carried either were too defenseless alone to last that long or were too precious to be given up by their parents without a long enough fight for them to age just a little more.

But somehow, this one, this precious little one was strong enough to survive. And Din found he couldn’t really be all too upset with this child’s unfathomable power if it meant he lived long enough for this particular bounty hunter to protect him. Now the question was, where to hide? There were quite a few places. Various nooks and crannies to take shelter in till the anger over the Mandalorian’s stand off could be cooled long enough to store a small child away safely. But of those hidden places, how many were really safe for a small kid?

A groan slipped out without Din really meaning it to, he just suddenly felt incredibly unprepared and useless which weren’t feelings he was all that used to after his years of experience. If he were alone, he’d be tempted to remove his helmet and rub his temples but his skin prickled as it always did when he was aware of another being nearby. The prickle became an incessant itch, and he raised his gloved hands to idly rub over his neck before giving into the feeling that something was watching him and he turned his head.

A small green head with the biggest black eyes and larger ears was staring intently at him curiously. Three small fingers were wrapped tightly around the top of the makeshift crib as the child tried to lift himself up. Din let his hand fall to his lap and the kid tilted his head in curiosity before opening his mouth and letting out a soft coo.

“Hey there squirt.” Din said. “Feeling hungry?”

The kid let his head tilt back and he cooed again, letting a small smile curl on his face to reveal a row of small teeth and beneath his helmet, Din found himself smiling fondly in return. And when the kid reached up one of his tiny hands as though reaching out for him, the Mandalorian stood from his chair to scoop up the small bundle of green alien and hold him close to his new, gleaming armor.

“Alright then, let’s see if we can find something.”

The words felt funny in his mouth. After all, he didn’t normally work with anyone and preferred to keep to himself if he could help it and especially in his own ship, Din never spoke a word if he could help it. But with this small child babbling into his shoulder, he felt that he should at least keep some sort of soothing conversation ongoing for the benefit of his new charge. Something from his memories told him that children needed verbal conversation for their health although he couldn’t recall why, just that it felt important somehow and deep down, he knew he really would do almost anything for this kid with his trusting eyes.

“So this is just going to take a little bit to find something.” He found himself narrating while fighting down a smile as he felt small, three fingered hands digging into the material around his neck.

Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe he could do this. After all, he was a Mandalorian.


End file.
